Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Job Survey Suggests Cautious Hiring, No Recession

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Even as employers nationwide slashed some 63,000 jobs last month, more than a quarter of U.S. companies say they plan to hire within the next three months, according to a survey of 14,000 companies. Across the country, some 26% of companies expect to increase the size of their work force between April and June, according to the survey released today by Manpower Inc. Nine percent plan a decrease, while 60% predict no change and 5% are unsure, the Milwaukee-based global staffing company found.

The numbers are slightly worse than those for the same quarter last year, when 28% of employers expected to hire and 7% planned to cut jobs. But they're better than the predictions for the current quarter, when hiring was expected to outpace job cuts by a margin of just 10 percentage points.From the Manpower press release, "A slowing in hiring intentions reflects a widespread wait-and-see approach among employers," said Jeffrey A. Joerres, Chairman & CEO of Manpower Inc. However, the survey data points to a gradual and measured downshift, not a sudden and overwhelming change. Interestingly, these data do not look like previous recessionary periods where we experienced much more accelerated declines." (HT: Rick Ballard)

The FED has now declared that they will monetize anything including toilet paper to keep this patient on life support and insolvent banks afoat. Soon they will be monetizing US treasury debt as foreign holders figure out the printing presses have kicked in high gear and start heading for the exits.